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“He was one of your mother’s bodyguards.”
“Was?”
“He died in a street brawl just a couple of months after you were born.”
“How do you know so much?”
“I only found out myself a few hours ago.” He pushed a hand over his face. “I hired a PI who was able to dig up the information I needed fast.”
Grief for her real father—a man she’d never know—threatened to swallow her whole, while the knowledge her mother had an affair with another man left her whole world tilted and off-balance. Yet paradoxically, everything else fell into place like pieces of a puzzle. “At least now I know why Zameer never loved me. I was living proof of his failure to produce heirs.”
“If it’s any comfort, I believe he’s proud of the daughter he raised, despite the fact you aren’t of his blood.”
Zameer’s words echoed in her head.You’ve become more like me than I realized.
“I’m nothing like him.”
“No, you’re not. You’re good and kind, and you’re beautiful inside and out.”
She swallowed hard. “Please don’t pretend to care about me. Not anymore.”
His hand tightened around hers. “Yasmine, Idocare. I love you. I think I loved you from the very first moment I saw you in my bed, like an angel from heaven.”
Hope warmed her heart, grief subsiding as love surged for him in return. “You do?”
He held her gaze, his smile soft, tender. “I’ve never been more certain about anything or anyone in my life.”
All her fears and insecurities seemed to melt away, right along with her recent trauma. “You don’t know how much that means to me,” she said, voice trembling. Her vision misted. “I love you, too.”
He inhaled sharply. “You’re not just saying that?”
“I mean every word.” She lifted one of her bandaged hands and touched his face. “We really do belong together.”
“Always and forever. You are mine,” he said hoarsely. “My angel.”
Despite the adrenaline hit, everything was starting to get fuzzy around the edges, with sleep beckoning. It took every ounce of willpower to push back fatigue and ask, “But what about children?”
“We’ll have them…one day. When we’re both ready.”
A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “You really mean that, don’t you?”
“I was a fool to allow my past to affect our future.”
“Your past?”
His breath whistled between his teeth. “I lost a baby…a stillborn boy.”
Another surge of adrenaline for a moment pushed away bone-deep weariness. “I’m so sorry.”
“I’m the one who is sorry.” A sad smile twisted his lips. “I should never have expected you to want children with me. You’re still so young, as Sheikha you have enough responsibilities.”
She didn’t have the energy to reassure him that being Sheikha was child’s play to her now. She had other, more significant topics of conversation to address. “What happened to the mother of your child?”
“You don’t have to worry about her,” he said gently. “She has her own life now, with an allowance to sustain her for life.”
Yasmine had a sneaking suspicion it wasn’t quite that simple, but she was even more aware they could handle whatever came their way from now on. She wasn’t trapped living with Jamal, she was liberated. Jamal would encourage her to do whatever she wanted.
And oh, how she wanted. Not just him, but children, too. And she’d put her degrees to good use.
